Final Link to Wix Website

https://chutendo.wixsite.com/tedmusic

Final Music Video Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYSN12B97Gg&feature=youtu.be

Final Overview of Website

  Link to website: https://chutendo.wixsite.com/tedmusic

Link to music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8r_OjLbJbg&ab_channel=chutendo

Collaboration with Urban Outfitters

 In order to make my website applicable to the aspirational aspect of the brief, I decided a fake collaboration with a clothing retailer would help. I did research into brands that 16 - 25-year-olds aspire to own and brands they already own. From a case study of 10 people in the age range;

30% said Gucci, 20% stated Superdry, 20% said Levi's, 10% said Chanel and 20% said Rolex.

Going off of brands they deem aspirational that they have in their possession, 40% said Urban Outfitters, 20% said Gucci, 30% said Nike and 10% said H&M.

I decided to start to focus on research into Urban Outfitters.

Research into the brand :

Urban Outfitters is a leading retail brand targeting young adults through a "unique merchandising mix". Urban Outfitters offers a mixture of womenswear, menswear, activewear accessories and musical merchandise - specifically cassette and vinyl records. 

A large portion of merchandise is exclusive to Urban Outfitters, with products specifically created in collaboration with third-party brands. 

Retail shopping is available both online and physically. Shops are often found in built-up metropolitan areas and shopping centres. These enclosed spaces target consumers' aspirations to shop, talk, and congregate with peers.  

A large part of the brand is upcycling old clothing to be environmentally and ethically sustainable. The Urban Renewal Line works to combat production waste by incorporating old scraps of fabrics. 79% of people claim to be worried about environmental issues. UO offers reusable shopping bags and packaging, as well as digital receipts to reduce paper waste.

UO consumers are between 18 - 28 years old. The demographic will heavily follow the hipster subculture and live alternative lifestyles, influenced by the latest trends. Most consumers will live in urban or suburban areas. 

UO consumers are artistic, aspirational, culturally sophisticated, self-expressive and crave acceptance from peers. Most information is received digitally from social media, instead of paper news or peer opinions. 

54 Urban Outfitters stores are located in Europe. It is currently the 4th leading casual apparel shop, and is most popular with my target demographic. It is 5th most popular in terms of online shopping for teens, behind Amazon, Shien, Nike and Lululemon.

The average price range for vinyl (12") is £32. The average price for a graphic T-shirt is £35.

Examples of Urban Outfitters' exclusive vinyl variants:

Often having exclusive colour variations with differentiating opacity and pattern on the vinyl, these records will be available only from the Urban Outfitters website at a mark-upped price.

Creating the collaboration: 

Using photographs taken in a different set of clothes and environments, I photoshopped the original cd to include the new album cover I'd made. To make it seem more realistic, I added a crinkle filter to make it seem less photoshopped. I then added the customised logo collaboration I'd made that included both brand logos.

For the 3rd page of my website, I made another version, using a similar photo, instead using a vinyl record, that includes the picture of another album cover for some variation.

Website Screenshots

 

Link to Final Draft of Music Video : https://youtu.be/L56P1ynnhbY

Link to "30 Second" Interview : https://youtu.be/dNEQFmopNRE

30(+) Second Clip - Website

 

Using my established "Indie" aesthetic, instead of doing a formal interview, I decided to instead do a "what's in my room tour" style video. Doing an informal style makes the audience feel closer, as it's structured to feel like the artist is talking directly to an audience member, instead of to an interviewer. 

I used the song "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" by They Might Be Giants, finding an instrumental version. It was perfect for the background of the video - as it's not a well-known song, but has a fast-paced, repeating melody. The song itself was also short, being 1:36. My interview ended up spanning a little longer, meaning I had to edit the audio, so it'd still sound natural to fans.

"Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" was a title I had planned to put on the back of Ted's debut album. 

Planning - 30 second website video script

“Hi, I'm henry aka ted and this is my room!” 

*Cut to various shots with voiceover* 

Ever since I was a kid, I've tried to make music. Just stuff like, you know, bashing pots and pans. I’ve never really been “serious” about music, but music seems to be serious about me. 

My room has always been my “safe place”. All of my stuff is in here, I make all my music in here and I've grown up in here. I definitely feel that everything in my room reflects me, and shows my eclectic side which I hope you guys get when you listen to my music *smile* 

My favourite part of my room is probably my keyboard. I’ve had it since I was around 9 or 10, and it’s where I started to make music. My favourite thing in my room, however, is my dinosaur plush. He’s a more recent edition to the room.  

Isn't he cute? 

I never really expected to “blow up”, I was kind of just putting music out there, and people just started to listen! It feels crazy to me that something I made in my room, on my computer was able to reach so many people 

Kate is a personal song for me, I’ve always struggled with making friends, so I decided to turn it into a funny song, about how I try to make friends with people. It's sort of an anthem for all the lonely people out there, but it’s meant to be funny more than anything. It’s sorta inspired by those silly bands like “they might be giants” and the Beatles. I wouldn’t take anything I do *too literally*. (laughs) 

Remember to stream my song “Kate” on the album “eight arms to hold you”... as well as all my other stuff [smile]

 

 

Development Update #1

 I feel as though progress so far is going well. I currently have a master shot in the back correctly synced with the music. Over the week I have been able to shoot more footage that includes intertextual references and I've been able to film on a SONY Handicam Vision Camcorder. These have been successfully converted to video with the use of Hi8 tapes. My top 3 priorities as of current are to finish filming footage altogether, add animated titles and work on the creation of my website. 

Example of rendered footage from Handicam.

Master shot synced in time correctly to music

Shot following "Her mix tape's a masterpiece" featuring a cluster of images as well as a tracklist for the mixtape. All songs included in this are love songs relating to the narrative of the video.

First 38 seconds showing new edited HandiCam footage.

Initial Draft of Music Video

 

Statement Of Intent

Website analysis

When planning my website, I decided it best to look into the conventions of other popular artists' websites, social media and merchandise shops.

1) https://thedivinecomedy.com/ - The Divine Comedy

Neil Hannon is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter. He is the creator and frontman of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy and is the band's sole constant member. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for the television sitcoms Father Ted and The IT Crowd.

The Divine Comedy's website proves to me to be the epitome of digital convergence (in this case from the album cover to the website). This website provides multiple links to social media, an about section, a shop section for merchandise, the latest music videos and a comprehensive list of every album released under The Divine Comedy.

With the release of Hannon's latest album "Charmed Life", the website has undergone a transformation including cross media convergent references to the flowers on the album, the same gold/yellow colour scheme and the same typeface. The website is easy to navigate with information available under each heading on the header. The Divine Comedy does not have a well-known logo, instead, its "logo" is simply the name of the band in a consistent font.

The footer to the website has a newsletter that readers may sign up to, more links to social media and a continuation of the flower theme.

The Divine Comedy's website encompasses several aspects I'd like to include and build into my own website, especially the consistent theme and easy accessibility to the audience.

2) https://www.belleandsebastian.com/ - Belle & Sebastian

Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. Though consistently lauded by critics, Belle & Sebastian's "wistful pop" has enjoyed only limited commercial success.

Belle & Sebastian's website is similar to The Divine Comedy's in terms of conventions. It has a very similar layout with a distinct colour scheme that links directly to their newest album. Further down the page is a list of tour dates, videos, merchandise, a newsletter and social media. 

The tabs along the header have news on the band and a gallery, as well as an expanded shop to what's seen on the homepage. Under the heading "The Band" is a button to a link called "Stuarts Diary", which gives fans a more in-depth relationship with the band members.

A social media feed of the official Instagram is present on the website, which manually updates with each new post. A lot of the website is present on the first page, compiling all of the information. Under each heading, the website just expands on what has already been stated. 

3) https://www.hstyles.co.uk/ - Harry Styles

Harry Styles is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series The X Factor. Following his elimination, he was brought back to join the boy band One Direction, which went on to become one of the best-selling boy groups of all time before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Harry's newest album, "Harry's House" is his third album. The single "As It Was" became critically acclaimed, reaching both #1 in The UK and The USA. Harry's website reflects his newest album, with the cover centre of the website, and the first thing audiences will see. The layout is very minimal, with only streaming services under the title "Harry's House", and only three headings. For Harry's target demographic, I feel the simplicity of the website and little information work with the shorter attention span of the demographic. 

The site doesn't have much cross-media convergence, due to its simplicity, but it does still have a newsletter, links to social media and the newest music videos. 

There isn't any information or an "about" section on Harry, which I personally feel connects him less to his audience, but may potentially pose him as even more aspirational. Harry isn't that publicly available, and it may just link in more to his mysterious persona.

Several conventions from each of these websites prove useful to what a website needs. Doing research into these has been helpful to what I want to include, and has given me more ideas to include. On my website, I'd like to do collaboration with a potential charity or brand, and I'd like to include an easter egg of some sort, once something is clicked on. 

Album cover creation

Using Photoshop, I was able to create an album cover to further my brand identity. The creation of an album cover was imperative for merchandise and the website. I decided that an image of the lead singer ("ted") was best to create a more personal cover to connect with an audience, as well as establish a brand.

I decided between 3 main images, deciding between 2 different names, "Qu'est ce que c'est?" and "Eight Arms to Hold You". "Qu'est ce que c'est" features the font "coolvetica", with each album title in corresponding covers. 

When initially editing the photos, the composition of the "Eight Arms to Hold You" image felt a lot more dynamic and more like an album cover. I took inspiration from album covers such as "Sweetener" by Ariana Grande, and "Rockin the Suburbs" by Ben Folds for alternative camera shots, which places the subject of the photo in iconic positions to make the album memorable. 

 

I liked the idea of having the title of the album and singer/band name on the front cover, and the idea of having eye contact with the camera, which made it feel personal. 

To complete the album cover, I added a "noise" filter to make it more grainy, and fit in with the homemade, polaroid aesthetic.